Yuqi sat on the edge of her bed, her heart banging against her chest as the room seemed to close around her. The familiar sensation of a panic attack washed over her, leaving her gasping for air. She gripped the sides of the bed, struggling to get it together. But she couldn't escape it.
In the next room, Soyeon went about her day, unaware of the situation happening to her lover.
As the panic escalated, Yuqi mustered all of her strength. "S-Soyeon!" her voice trembled, barely audible and filled with desperation.
Soyeon, worried, rushed into their bedroom. "Yuqi? You okay?"
Concern etched across Soyeon's face as she knelt beside Yuqi, her own anxiety beginning to rise when she figured that Yuqi was not okay. She had never witnessed someone in the midst of a panic attack, and she had no idea how to help. Soyeon's mind raced as she tried to come up with a solution, swallowing as she looked with uncertainty at Yuqi's pained face.
"Soyeon," Yuqi managed to gasp, breaking the silence. "I-I can't breathe. P-please help me.."
Soyeon's uncertainty flipped into determination. She wanted to magically erase Yuqi's panic, but knew that she couldn't. With a slightly shaky voice, she whispered, "it's all okay, you're okay, there's nothing to panic about. Just breathe, don't forget to breathe." Soyeon placed a hand on Yuqi's chest, instructing her to follow her breaths.
They sat together, their breaths building a rhythm. Soyeon's hand gently found Yuqi's as the younger's rapid breathing started to even out.
~
In the days that followed, Soyeon sought to educate herself about panic attacks, familiarizing herself with how they occurred and what she could do to help Yuqi calm down. Since that day, she's been offering a caring hand whenever Yuqi started to get in her head.
And as time passed, Yuqi's panic attacks became less and less.
<3
